Skin tightening, wrinkle reduction, removal of cellulite, skin lesions, breast and lips enhancement, reduction of fatty tissue, muscle building, strengthening and/or body contouring are aesthetic treatments for which there is a growing demand. Aesthetic therapy commonly includes the application of different treatment energy sources, such as light sources, radio frequency energy sources, ultrasound energy, electric energy or other sources. Every source of energy mentioned above may have some beneficial effect.
Energy is focused to skin and/or to lower layers of body soft tissue. Human skin is composed of three basic layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis. The epidermis is composed of the outermost layers of cells in the skin. The epidermis is a stratified squamous epithelium, composed of proliferating basal and differentiated suprabasal keratinocytes which acts as the body's major barrier against an inhospitable environment. The dermis consists of collagen, elastic tissue and reticular fibers. The hypodermis is the lowest layer of the skin and contains hair follicle roots, lymphatic vessels, collagen tissue, nerves and also fat forming a subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SWAT).
Energy may be delivered to soft tissue in order to stimulate skeletal muscle contraction, to treat fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels and/or other supporting matrix that soft tissue include. Fat is composed mostly of adipocytes. It is possible to distinguish different types of fat tissue but in general, for aesthetic treatment, of primary interest is visceral fat located around internal organs and subcutaneous fat in the hypodermis and/or beneath the skin but above skeletal muscle.
Invasive therapies for body and/or skin enhancement such as skin tightening, wrinkle reduction, cellulite reduction, skin lesions, breast and/or lips enhancement, reduction of fatty tissue and others may be associated with relative long recovery time, discomfort during and/or after treatment (e.g. accompanying liposuction) and increased health risk. Conventional non-invasive treatments for body and/or skin enhancement includes drugs, ointments with active agents, exercise, dieting or combinations of these treatments. These may not be effective or even possible under certain circumstances and therefore the results may disappoint.
Application of RF energy to the tissue may have several benefits on the body and skin function and/or appearance. Nevertheless, methods and devices used for non-invasive ways for improving skin visual appearance and/or body shape and contour by delivering RF energy source of energy may result in irritation of the skin and/or other soft tissues, painful application especially for high intensity stimulus, discomfort during the treatment, lack of deep tissue stimulation, inappropriate localization and/or inhomogeneity of the delivered energy to the treated tissue. Some existing devices and therapies cannot compensate for unexpected circumstance which may occur during the treatment, resulting in treatment which can be insufficient, non-homogenous or risky.
Another problem is that treated cells are accumulated in the soft tissue during and/or after treatment. Accumulation of treated cells may slow healing or cause inflammation and safety concerns.